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Dr. William Dobelle, Artificial Vision Pioneer, Dies at 62

Dr. William Dobelle, who developed an experimental system of artificial vision for the blind that involved the transmission of electrical signals to electrodes implanted in the brain, died on Oct. 5 at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center in Manhattan. He was 62.

The cause was diabetes-related complications, according to a spokeswoman for Avery Laboratories, the company based in Commack, N.Y., that Dr. Dobelle acquired in 1983.

Dr. Dobelle led one of several teams of scientists around the world seeking to develop technology for artificial vision. He received widespread publicity four years ago after his system restored limited navigational abilities to a volunteer who was blind.

The system, which remains experimental, uses a tiny camera mounted in glasses worn by the blind person. The camera images are relayed to a portable computer and transmitted to surgically implanted electrodes attached to the brain's visual cortex.

Dr. Eli Friedman, a nephrologist and professor at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn and a longtime friend of Dr. Dobelle, said in an e-mail message, "He tenaciously held on to the concept that an external sensor creating a digital image could convey a signal to the brain that would be interpreted as usable sight."

Dr. Dobelle was born in Pittsfield, Mass., and showed an early talent for invention. He applied for his first patent at 13 for artificial hip improvements that he developed with his father, Martin, an orthopedic surgeon. He entered Vanderbilt University at 14 and, in 1956, he built an X-ray machine.

In an interview with Wired magazine two years ago, Dr. Dobelle recalled his early attraction to the field that became his life's work. "I've always done artificial organs," he said. "I've spent my whole life in the spare-parts business. I just inherited it from my father. By age 8, I was doing real research."

He completed his undergraduate education at Johns Hopkins University, where he also earned a master's in biophysics.

Later, he received his Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Utah and was director of the division of artificial organs at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.

Dr. Dobelle conducted much of the work on his artificial vision system in Europe at the Dobelle Institute, a center he founded in the 1980's that is now based in Lisbon.

He is survived by his wife, Claire; a son, Martin; and two daughters, Molly and Mimi, all of Muttontown, N.Y.; and his brother, Evan, of Honolulu.